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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wind — moving air
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. row — a line
  5. cap — a lid
  6. stem — to come from
  7. cap — of ice
  8. club — for dancing
  9. roll — a cake
  10. club — a group
  11. row — to paddle
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. roll — a list
  15. root — the cause
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. club — for golf
  18. wind — moving air
  19. root — of a plant
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. date — the fruit
  23. root — of a word
  24. cap — a hat

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com